Fernando Bale had to endure an early check before taking out an action packed Group 1 National Derby at Wentworth Park.
Jumping from box seven, Fernando Bale (pictured, winning his semi final) copped a heavy bump from Topper Road (in box eight) shortly after box eight.
But the Andrea Dailly-trained greyhound stuck to his task, winning by 2 1/4 lengths in 29.87.
Click here to watch a replay of the National Derby here.
Before the box draw Topper Road's trainer Anthony Azzopardi declared that from box seven or eight his greyhound would "crash" to the fence - and that’s exactly what he did.
“From behind the boxes I could hear the thump as Topper Road, who had box eight, veered in and hit Fernando Bale," Azzopardi said.
“To keep pushing up and still be in a position to take the lead going through the catching pen was an amazing effort on Fernando Bale’s part."
But despite being severely crowded from box rise to the first turn, Fernando Bale continued to drive forward to be third at the first bend.
That’s where his luck changed because his kennelmate Lektra Outlaw, box one, shifted right and climbed onto the heels of pacemaker, Tasmania’s Dark Vito.
When Dark Vito was dragged down Fernando Bale was able to sweep around both him and Lektra Outlaw to race to a winning lead.
In the first turn scrimmage Bad Boy Sniper railed through to be in second position on the back straight and he ran home strongly to be beaten two lengths, with Winsome Prince a distant, but gallant third.
Winsome Prince ran off the track and collided at the first turn, coming from fifth at the catching pen to snare the minor prizemoney.
Discussing the race later, trainer Andrea Dailly said: "I don’t think Lektra Outlaw was happy about being pressured from his outside."
"But Fernando Bale has continued to surprise us because while he has always had ability and was promising early in his career, he has really come good over the past few weeks.
"He will now tackle the Group 1 Australian Cup heats at The Meadows on February 28 and after the series there are the Golden Easter Egg heats at Wentworth Park on March 21."
Bookmakers Mark Merlino, a keen form student, was in awe of Fernando Bale’s performance.
"To do what he did at only his 10th start in a race proves he is something special, a true group one greyhound," Merlino said.
